What is a Wisdom Council?

The Wisdom Council is a way to dynamically facilitate a very large system of people. It can be used to involve all employees in a bottom-up visioning process, or all citizens in a city in one creative, ongoing, conversation. It helps people think together about the big issues and reach near-unanimous conclusions. (To see how the Wisdom Council is being used in communities see the non-profit organization, the Center for Wise Democracy or Society's Breakthrough for how it might be used to transform society.)

The Wisdom Council involves a lottery every four months or so, where twelve participants are randomly selected to meet for a short period, like two days. The group meets with a "dynamic facilitator," identifies key issues, works on them creatively, and develops unamimous statements. These statements have no coercive authority, but are presented back to the whole system in a ceremony, like a "State of the Union" message. Everyone is invited to hear these statements in person or through the media, to dialogue in small groups, and to report on their conclusions. Usually, most everyone supports both the statements and the process. (See audio and video demonstrations.)

The issues selected by the Wisdom Council are the big issues that people care about, even those that seem unsolvable. The Wisdom Council conclusions are developed in the name of everyone, as “Statements of the People.” Everyone else becomes involved as well through their interest in who is selected for the Council, what topics are selected, and the conclusions that are reached. Even those who don’t hear the results directly discuss them with others. All have the opportunity to feed back their views through comments in team meetings, the internet, letters to the editor, or through organized dialogues. Since this process seeks system-wide consensus and all voices are valued, each dissonant voice will be fully heard. It's truly a conversation of the whole.

Every four months a new Wisdom Council is randomly selected which builds, often unintentionally, on the work of previous groups. Wisdom Councils evolve statements that nearly everyone supports. Action happens voluntarily by individuals or through the official structure.

The Twelve Principles

To achieve the promised system transformation, a Wisdom Council must abide by all, or most all, of the following twelve principles:
1. The Wisdom Council must be chartered by We the People
This a paradox since without the Wisdom Council already in place there is no "We the People.” Indications are that a Wisdom Council can be convened by just a few people to generate a tentative voice of We the People, which supports and builds interest in a second Wisdom Council. Each successive Wisdom Council charters the next one until there is near-unanimous support for the process. This way, We the People can form and decide to charter itself through a “citizens initiative,” for instance.
2. It is a microcosm of randomly selected people
The people on a Wisdom Council are not self-selected, elected, or appointed by some authority. Each person speaks only for him or her self and not for any subgroup like women, Democrats, poor people, or for a geographical region.
3. It is empowered to select and frame the issues it addresses
Because the Wisdom Council symbolizes all people, there is no higher authority. As boss of the system, symbolically “We the People,” the Wisdom Council chooses the issues it will consider, frames them, and solves them.
4. The members are chosen in a ceremony: a lottery
In an annual, semi-annual, or quarterly lottery, each person in the system receives a number and has an equal chance to be selected.
5. It is non-coercive
No one is forced to serve on a Wisdom Council and the results have no official power. The Wisdom Council merely presents its conclusions and then disbands, initiating a whole-system, creative conversation that can reach consensus.
6. It operates in a fishbowl
The Wisdom Council process needs media attention so that people in the system are aware of it, its conclusions, and the ongoing process. When Wisdom Council members are gathered, they are isolated from the influence of others.
7. It is facilitated dynamically
(See the comments on Choice-creating and Dynamic Facilitation below.)
8. It generates unanimous statements
The Wisdom Council reaches unanimous conclusions that most everyone, not just those on the Wisdom Council, can fully endorse.
9. The results are presented in a ceremony
When the Wisdom Council concludes its work, it immediately presents its conclusions, plus individual stories of the experience, back to all the people. Everyone in the system is part of the extended audience.
10. Small group dialogues are convened
All are invited to participate in small group dialogues in town halls, churches, community centers, and individual homes, and to voice their response.
11. The process is ongoing
Each Wisdom Council articulates interim conclusions in an ongoing dialogue, providing a way to track changes of attitude and progress on issues.
12. The process operates in parallel with normal governance structures
The Wisdom Council is non threatening. It merely adds a periodic short-term, small-group meeting and presentation to the system. Follow-up actions happen through the existing structure.

The Magic of Choice-creating

The Wisdom Council's unique benefits are due in large measure to the capabilities of Dynamic Facilitation and the "choice-creating" quality of talking and thinking it establishes. Choice-creating is different from normal discussions where people agree and disagree on topics. It is similar to dialogue because it is a deep open-minded exploration of issues, and similar to deliberation because groups reach conclusions. But with choice-creating the emphasis is not on people carefully different options and negotiating an agreement. It is oriented toward reaching unanimity via breakthroughs of head and heart.

Choice-creating is energy-driven more than being agenda-driven. People follow their hearts and instincts, not holding strictly to an agenda. This style of thinking happens naturally when people face a seemingly impossible challenge.

The Center for Wise Democracy

In 2001 to make the Wisdom Council morre widely available to communities, Jim Rough, DeAnna Martin and Jean Rough co-founded the Center for Wise Democracy. It offers help in the form of handbooks, videos, trainings, plus a sharing of experience. .

Resources on the Wisdom Council

•The Center for Wise Democracy is the primary resource for citizens groups to help them initiate Wisdom Councils. (See www.WiseDemocracy.org)
•The book "Society’s Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People" by Jim Rough describes the theoretical underpinnings and the immense potential for this process. (See www.SocietysBreakthrough.com)
•The Co-Intelligence Institute has a number of articles and comparisons to other methods. (See http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-wisdomcouncil.html)